I was recently in the hospital for right upper abdominal pain when the doctors discovered that I had a heart murmur. I had an ECG and they discovered that everything is normal. I have been noticing that my right ring and pinky fingers and my left hand have been going numb. Could this be caused by the heart murmur? Also what exactly is a heart murmur and is it a serious problem? Also the doctors never found an answer for the abdominal pain.... I have posted my symptoms under the Gastroenterology topic and I would appreciate your advice on both issues. Thanks so much!

A murmur is basically a noise. Murmurs are heard when there is turbulance of flow across a heart valve.

It could be because the blood is moving faster across a normal heart and this can happen in cases of anemia, fever or hyperfunction of the thyroid gland. This is known as flow murmur. Usually heard at the pulmonary valve.

It could be because the heart is moving across a diseased valve, whether it is narrower or wider than normal.

There are certain characteristics, if present in a murmur, it is not an innocnet murmur. These are usually known to physicians.

If you have any new symptoms, like shortness of breat, i think it would be justifiable to have an echocardiogram (ultrasound of the heart) done to take a look at the valves.

If the echocardiogram is done and you are found to have a valve lesion, then it is important to always tell your dentist (and other doctors as well) about this so that you be given antibiotics before any procedure.